


You Miss Her

by Kori_no_sekai



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2017-12-28 19:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/995783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kori_no_sekai/pseuds/Kori_no_sekai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You know, I didn't exactly take the end of the world into account in my life plans..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hunter

**Author's Note:**

> Taking a crack at a new genre. This is going to be a short fic, probably 4-5 chapters (and a possible oneshot after the whole thing has been posted) Feedback is welcome and encouraged. Yeah, I know everyone and their brother says that, but it is indeed the truth.
> 
> Rated mostly for language (especially from Nick) and obvious zombie violence

Three days.

That was how long it had been since Ellis had seen another human being. Or, unless you counted Nick, another normal one; he'd seen plenty of abnormal ones.

There were hordes of them; common, hunters, jockeys, witches. And they wanted nothing more than to kill him. This whole thing was a load of bullshit. One little germ and the world had gone to hell in a hand basket without so much as a 'be back soon.' Talk about bad luck.

Before the infection hit, Ellis had often wondered what a zombie apocalypse might be like. His buddy Keith had a pretty good idea.

"I'll tell you what; it'd be the best dang shootin' range ever! You could just go out there and kill all those sons-a-bitches."

Well, Keith had been right. Ellis even came up with a motto. They'd been in an overrun evac station, trying to make some sense of what was going on, and Coach had found a pamphlet. CEDA liked to think that it was helping people, but the survivors knew better. The man's voice was pure sarcasm as he read the paper out loud  
"Report unusual behavior. Barricade your homes. Avoid all contact with infected individuals. Wait for official instructions. Tch! Wait my ass!"

"Kill all sons-a- bitches," Ellis said. "That's my 'fficial instructions."

And that was exactly what he did. It was easy to see that Ellis hated zombies. Another thing he hated was the fact that it wasn't actually easy to make something zombie proof.

He'd tried to make his truck zombie proof after the infection got serious. He thought he'd done a pretty good job considering he was a mechanic and Keith had given him a lot of helpful pointers, but it turned out that the truck was actually only ninety-nine percent zombie-proof. The other one percent tore it to shreds. Ellis had liked that truck. It was the last thing he and Keith had done before the Infection hit. Ellis hoped that his friend was okay. He probably was. Keith had more lives than an immortal cat. According to the laws of human existence he should have died…well, a long time ago. That was why Ellis liked Keith. He wasn't stupid; he just liked to have fun. Even if fun involved the police tear gassing him for shooting crows on the top of a building.

After the zombies destroyed Ellis' truck, he'd made it on foot for a while. Then he met Coach and Rochelle. Coach was a football coordinator at a high school. He had a bad knee that liked to give him shit at all the wrong times; like when they were trying to climb stairs to escape the zombies. He loved food too. He often brought up a thing called the 'One-Man Cheeseburger Apocalypse'. When Ellis asked about this, Coach replied simply, "It's an apocalypse for cheeseburgers, Ellis. I'm the apocalypse."

Ellis liked Coach. He was from Georgia too. They both loved Jimmy Gibbs Jr. and the Midnight Riders, and also amusement parks. Even though Ellis rambled sometimes, Coach still looked out for him and made sure he got back on track.

Rochelle wasn't from Savannah. She was from Ohio; Cleveland, if Ellis remembered correctly (he forgot stuff like that sometimes.) Anyway, Rochelle was a producer for a news station. She was setting up for a segment about Savannah's CEDA Evac station when a horde of zombies crashed her site and she had to run for it. She and Coach had been looking for other survivors before they found Ellis. They'd met Nick on the way to another Evac Station. Ellis wasn't sure what exactly it was that Nick did, but apparently it involved gambling…and other things that the man wouldn't elaborate on. He made it clear that he was solo kind of guy, but had changed his mind after realizing he had a better chance of surviving in a group.

Ellis had lost track of how long they were together. One week, maybe two. Fighting for your life 24/7 tended to do that. Everything was still a blur.

After they escaped the mall in Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s stock car, it was okay for a little while. They had to go on foot when they reached the highway. It broke Ellis' heart to leave the car behind, but there was no way to drive over twenty miles of abandoned vehicles. They made it as far as the amusement park. After that, things got really bad really fast.

They lost Coach first.

A horde swarmed them on the way to an evac station. Of course, it was on top of a building. As they raced up the stairwell with the screams of hunters echoing in their ears, Coach slowed; his bad knee had finally given out. Nick tried to help him, but the man staunchly refused and told him to go. He made it two more flights before the hunters overwhelmed him.

Nick was the first to snap out if the shock. "Damn," he said, "that was Coach…well, it doesn't matter now."

Ellis and Ro had been slower to accept the loss. The woman had been closer to Coach than any of them, so Nick allowed her some leeway. However, he was condescending towards Ellis until Rochelle told him to knock it off because he wasn't helping. One thing Ellis had learned about Rochelle was that she was a lot tougher than she looked. She could kick your ass if she wanted to. After Coach died she stopped pretending to be patient with Nick. How she had even managed it that long was a mystery to Ellis.

Nick and Rochelle fought a lot. Ellis hated listening to them, but Nick's favorite phrase quickly became, 'Shut the fuck up, Ellis!' whenever the mechanic tried to intervene. More than once, he was sure that the two would just shoot each other right then and there.

That was one thing Ellis did not want to happen. If Nick and Rochelle died, he would be on his own. He didn't want to be alone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse with nothing but jockeys and witches for company. Thankfully, the violence never rose above shouting matches. There was one time when Rochelle slapped Nick across the face and it got close, but the man 'played the mature adult' and nothing else happened.

After that, Rochelle became distant. Ellis thought she would leave, but she didn't. She did refuse to speak to Nick for a long time, and after that, only when necessity demanded it. She stayed for the same reason all of them stayed: no one wanted to be alone at a time like this. It was bad enough having to survive hordes of zombies in the first place. Surviving them on your own? Good luck. You might be okay for a little while, but if a hunter caught up to you, you were fucked.

Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle made it almost another week. They got out of Savannah on a helicopter. However, Nick ended up having to shoot pilot because he changed into a zombie mid-flight, causing them to crash in Mississippi. They'd made it to a large warehouse relatively unscathed. There weren't many zombies to deal with for some reason or another, and they'd been able to get some supplies along the way. Life had run at a near standstill compared to what they had been through. They had a small moment of well deserved peace. Then, Rochelle found the witch.

She was dead by the time Nick and Ellis got to her.

Nick killed the witch. Ellis tried to revive the bleeding woman, but she was gone. Nick sighed. "Well, there goes our chance at repopulating the earth. But I guess there's nothing we can do about that now, is there?" As he had with Coach, Nick showed little sympathy. It didn't help that the two had been at each other's throats constantly. He'd taken the woman's gun and medical pack and left without another word. Ellis had a choice to follow or be left behind. He chose to follow.

After being with Nick this long, Ellis felt that he should have been used to the man's detached personality. But it was hard. Nick's attitude about life was the complete opposite of his. Where Ellis cared about others, all Nick cared about in the long run was himself. And it wasn't just because the world had gone to hell either; he'd been like that for a long time.

Ellis had a long-standing respect for life. Even when he killed zombies, he couldn't help but feel sorry for all the innocent people whose lives had been destroyed by the CEDA's Green Flu. But that was where sympathy ended. It was kill or be killed now.

After they lost Rochelle, Nick and Ellis continued towards New Orleans. It was slow going, and they spent a lot of time holed up in the top stories of buildings waiting for hordes to thin out. Another thing about Nick was that he got twice as irritable when he was cooped up. Ellis quickly learned to steer clear of him as much as possible, which was difficult in such a small space. Often times, Nick would mutter to himself, as if complaining out loud would somehow make him feel better.

Currently, they were in Meridian, a city just under one hundred miles from Jackson. They had found a recently abandoned apartment building and were in a room on the top floor. It wasn't comfortable, but that didn't really matter anymore. As long as there were no zombies, anywhere was home. Nick had just returned from his daily routine of checking if the horde that had gathered in the apartment had thinned out yet. They had lessened a few in number, but there were still too many to get out in one piece. The con-man closed the door behind him and walked into the front room. He was greeted by the sight of Ellis, who was sitting against the wall trying to balance a fire ax on the top of his head. Nick stared at the mechanic incredulously.

"Oh, yeah, that seems fuckin' smart."

Ellis caught the ax as it tipped and laid it across his knees. Nick shook his head.

"You know, one of these days I'm just gonna walk in here and find you impaled on that thing. That would be, like, the greatest fucking day ever," the man sat down on the floor and leaned back against the wall.

"I checked outside…it's still the end of the world."

Ellis looked up. "Oh, well that's a surprise."

The con-man growled under his breath. "Shit. Yeah, I didn't exactly take the end of the world into account in my life plans. Why couldn't I have been in Vegas when this thing hit? Or even Atlantic City? Why'd it have to be down here?

"How come yer so negative all the time?"

In hindsight, it could have been a very bad thing to say, but Nick merely closed his eyes. He drew in a breath and let it out again.

"You wanna know why I'm like this, Ellis? It's my ex-wife's fault," the man shook his head. "Everything was great until that whore came along and fucked it up… fucking dragon bitch."

Ellis wasn't sure how someone could be a dragon, but he knew what a bitch was. He'd seen a lot of those; dog ones and human ones. In his experience, the dog ones were a lot better. At least they couldn't try to run you over with their cars.

"Ellis, look," said Nick. "All women are emotional wrecks who will eventually kill you, okay? Just remember that and you'll be fine."

"Is that why you got them scratches on yer chest?" the mechanic asked

Nick looked at him warningly. "I told you, a hunter attacked me."

"Well, those don't look like hunter marks ta me." said Ellis matter-of-factly. "They look like fingernails. Skinny ones."

Nick was quiet for a moment. He looked closely at his fingers. "Ellis, have you ever tried to stab yourself?"

"Like, deliberately? Well, I ain't never tried…I have a few times, but nothin' too serious. Though this one time, mah buddy Keith was cleanin' some frogs an' he-"

"God damn it, will you stop talking about Keith? It's always 'Keith did this" and 'Keith did that' or 'This one time Keith almost killed himself driving off a cliff.' Do you seriously have no other friends?"

Ellis thought for a moment. "Well, I do, but Keith's the only interestin' one."

Nick stared at him. "That doesn't surprise me."

"There is mah friend Dave; he helped us at the auto shop sometimes. But he went ta jail a while back an' I ain't seen 'im since."

"Have all your friends been to jail, Ellis?"

"No, just Dave 'n Keith. Keith's never been in for more'n a few days though. I think Dave mighta stole a cop car or somthin', but I don't remember.

"Have you ever gone to jail, Ellis?"

"Nope. I can't, cuz then Keith'd have no one ta come get him. See, Keith'n I got a system. We can't get in trouble at the same time, cuz one has ta be able to come bail the other one out. If we were in jail together, no one'd come to get us."

"…I can't imagine why"

"Nick, have you ever gone to jail?"

"You don't need to know that."

Ellis frowned. "But I told you."

"You didn't have to answer."

"Well, you musta sometime cuz you ain't allowed ta own a gun."

"Legally."

"What'd ya do?"

Nick paused. "You know what, Ellis, I just might tell you."

"Really?"

"Yeah…'cause then I'd have to kill you. God damn it, if you don't stop playing with that thing I'm gonna stick up your ass."

Ellis stopped trying to balance the fire ax on his palm. "How long are we gonna stay here?"

"Until those infected downstairs clear out, I guess."

"How long's that gonna take?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? You think I went down and asked them?"

The mechanic was quiet. Nick pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled slowly again. "Look, Ellis, tomorrow we can try to leave, okay? We need more ammo anyway."

Ellis nodded and stood up. "You hungry at all?"

"No. Not for that canned shit anyway."

The mechanic shrugged "Well, I hate ta break it to you, but that's all we got."

"Don't remind me."

"Well, if you'd a let me get stuff from that groc'ry store I coulda made you a cake or somethin'."

Nick opened his eyes and stared at the mechanic. He tried to comprehend what he had just heard and gave up.

"Why the hell would I want a goddamn cake?"

"'Cause…cake makes stuff better?"

The con-man nodded shortly. "Did Keith tell you that?"  
"No, I made it up myself. I figured "Hey, e'erybody loves cake." You can't stay angry when yer eatin' cake. Trust me, I've tried."

Nick stood up and began walking towards the other room. "That very interesting, Ellis."

"Really?"

"No."

Ellis watched him leave. "Fine, go be depressin' in there then."

Nick flipped him the bird as he disappeared through the doorway.

Ellis sighed and walked over to the window. They were up high enough that he could see a fair way to the city's center. Meridian was burning. Smoked billowed from hundreds of fires spread across the skyline. It's like a warzone, though Ellis. Shit, it is a warzone. And they weren't on the winning side. The mechanic looked down to the street; only a few infected wandered around here, all of them common ones. The special infected were surprisingly few here . The only ones they had seen since coming to the apartment complex had been a spitter and a boomer. Hopefully they wouldn't meet any more when they left.

If they did, Ellis prayed it would be something easy and hopefully not a jockey or a tank. Mostly he hoped it wouldn't be a jockey. He hated jockeys the most, and it didn't help that they seemed to like him. There was nothing more terrifying than having a screeching demon spawn that looked like a cross between a goblin and a sloth grab onto you and try to claw your face off. Ellis could attest to that. He had plenty of scratches to show for it.

The mechanic looked back over the cityscape. He wondered if there was anyone else still out there. What if he and Nick turned out to be the last ones? Now that would be a miserable time. The mechanic sighed. He would just have to wait for tomorrow to find out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something was touching Ellis' face. A voice whispered hastily in his ear.

"Ellis…Ellis, wake up…Ellis…god damn it!" There was a pause before something hit him hard on the backside. The mechanic jerked awake and lunged for the fire ax. "Holy shit!" He sat up tense, gripping the weapon with both hands. Nick stood over him holding the baseball bat.

"What was that f-"

"Shut up." Nick put a finger to his lips. The sunrise was coming through the pulled blinds. Ellis listened quietly. At first, he heard nothing; then there came the cries and yowls of the Infected.

"Oh shit…shit shit shit."

"They're in the stairwell," said Nick. He was closing up his pack. "I heard them this morning. One of them must have hit an alarm on a lower floor. It turned off, but they're pretty riled up."

"Aw, hell." Ellis got up and grabbed his pack and rifle from the corner. "Well, so much fer getting' out quietly."

"I know. I didn't check the back stairwell though, so we might still have a clean exit. Come on."

The two men made their way to the door.

The stair well was dark, but Ellis could hear the zombies several floors below them. Nick held a finger to his lips again and they stayed close to the wall as they moved across to the entrance of the other wing. Nick locked the door behind them. They moved quickly down the hall, hoping that the back stairwell really was empty. As they rounded a corner Ellis suddenly pulled Nick back.

"What the-"

"Shh, listen."

Nick was quiet. Then he heard it: a faint sobbing. The man let out his breath.

"Witch."

"She's in one of those rooms," whispered Ellis. He nodded down the hallway. A dark exit sign at the end of the hall pointed to their escape route. Nick growled under his breath and leaned towards the mechanic

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do. You take that side and I'll take this side. We walk back to back so she can't sneak up on us. If all the doors are closed, we get the hell out, got it?"

Ellis nodded and hefted the rifle.

"Let's go."

They moved silently down the hall, each watching a side of doors, pointing a gun into any open rooms and moving past closed ones. Once, Ellis thought he saw it, but the witch did not appear. As they neared the end of the hall, Nick stopped, put his ear close to a door, and listened.

"I think she's in there. I can hear her scratching the floor."

"The door's right there, c'mon." Ellis continued down the hall. Nick stayed by the door. He considered opening it and killing the horrific creature within. Those things reminded him of his ex-wife anyway; maybe it would help him relieve some anger. He was reaching for the handle when he heard another sound from down the hall

"Shit." Ellis was standing by the exit. "It's locked."

Nick cast one final glance at the door and then ran down to Ellis. He tried the handle. Sure enough, it was locked. Why were the last possible doors out always locked? The man hefted his gun.

"Stand back."

"You ain't gonna shoot it?"

"It's either that or stay here with the witch."

Ellis stood back. A single shot did the trick. Nick yanked the door open.

"C'mon, c'mon', c'mon!" He shoved Ellis into the stairwell. The mechanic peeked over the railing. There were no zombies that he could see. He couldn't hear any either. Nick shut the door behind them. "Only problem now is we can't lock it behind us. God that better not have startled her."

"Ain't no zombies down there." Ellis said. Nick looked over the railing.

"Good, hopefully there won't be any nearby when we get to the bottom. Let's move!"

By the time they got to the bottom of the stair well, Ellis could hear faint sounds from the zombies in the adjacent wing. He peered through one of the doors that led to the ground level lobby. Infected milled about, partially dormant because there was nothing to attack. The mechanic exhaled slowly.

"Yo, Overalls, get over here." Nick was standing by the exit door. He looked carefully through the glass. "There's a few of them out there, but I think they're all common- wait." Nick looked closer. "Damn it, there's a boomer over by that building. God, I hate those things."

"Which way do we wanna go?" Ellis asked. Nick thought a moment as he tried to recall what direction they were facing.

"We want to go towards the edge of the city, so we should head right. I think there's some more buildings over there. I'm trying to decide if we should just run for it or shoot at them right away.

"Well, they gon' see us when we come out, so we're gonna have ta shoot'em either way."

"Yeah. Keep an eye on that boomer. If it gets either of us, we're fucked. You ready?"

"Hell yeah."

The first zombie to see them was a thin female with half of her arm missing. She howled and headed towards the two men. Ellis dropped her with a single shot to the head. Their cover was blown.

"This way!" Nick was running towards the industrial park. A maze of abandoned buildings loomed before them. On the other side was about five blocks of warehouses, and then a river. Then they would be into the rural land and one step closer to New Orleans. Ellis could hear the infected screeching behind him. They were catching up. The mechanic heard the boomer groan, alerting the horde of nearby survivors. This was not good. Suddenly, Ellis saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The boomers groans had summoned more Infected from the other side of the building.

"Nick!" the mechanic yelled "Watch yer right!"

The con man turned just in time to stop a zombie from tackling him to the ground. A small stand-off began. Ellis and Nick were only a few yards from the safety of the industrial park. The horde was thankfully small, but it was still hard to deal with. Ellis dropped zombies left and right, beating those that got too close with the gunstock.

"We gotta run!" Nick was yelling at him now. "Ellis, we can't kill all of them!"

The mechanic knew he was right. More and more infected were coming around the building.

Nick yelled at him again. "I'm gonna take out that boomer! Get to those factories back there!

Ellis turned reluctantly, throwing the nearly spend rifle around his shoulder and taking up the fire ax instead. Behind him, Nick was screaming some sort of berserk war cry as he shot at the bloated boomer. Sometimes you just needed to kill something.

The abandoned factory was a maze of narrow paths and alleys. Ellis kept the fire ax held at the ready in case anything was hiding. This place gave him the creeps. There were too many nooks and crannies; too many empty doorways for something not nice to be concealed in. Ellis listened for the tell-tale sounds of jockeys or witches. They liked to hide and then jump out at you when you were least expecting it. The mechanic kept his eyes on the doors as he passed them; constantly turning to make sure nothing was following. He was so concerned with the walls around him that he forgot to watch the ledges and windows above.

The hunter was quiet. So quiet that Ellis didn't know it was there until it landed on top of him.

The mechanic's head hit the battered concrete. Above him, a hooded, cat-like hunter roared and began to claw at him without mercy. It went for his face. Ellis managed to hold if off with the rifle, but it was stronger than he was, and the pain from the claw rakes was excruciating. The hunter tore the gun from Ellis hands. The mechanic screamed.

"Nick! God damn it, get it off me! Help!"

But Nick wasn't there. No one was there. The man hadn't seen where he had gone in the factory. For all Ellis knew, he was dead. The mechanic cried out at the hunter slashed at his chest again. He grabbed the feral creature by the shoulders in a last attempt to fight it off. He was going to die here. Already his arms were shaking and his vision was spotted with black.

"Get the hell away from him!"

The hunter looked up at the new voice. Instantly, its chest exploded with multiple gunshots. Blood splashed Ellis' face. The hunter scrabbled away and turned to attack the newcomer as they ran forward. But it never got the chance to pounce. The shooter bashed it over the head, splattering more blood and flesh onto the ground. Ellis managed to look up. A few feet away stood a woman with brown hair. She was holding a shotgun and a pistol. At her feet lay the injured hunter. The thing was shrieking death motes. The woman raised the pistol and pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. The hunter stopped shrieking.

The woman waited a moment to make sure it really was dead, and then holstered the pistol. She quickly raised the shotgun and did a sweep of the windows around them, but nothing else appeared.

Ellis couldn't move. He felt like someone had attacked him with a crowbar, which was essentially what had happened. He was vaguely aware of the woman rushing to his side.

"Hey, are you still with me?" The woman's voice sounded young. Ellis groaned. "Close enough. Okay, stay with me now, alright? Come on, I know you can do it," she put hand on his shoulder and inspected the injuries.

"Damn it, that thing got you good." The woman looked around. "Was there anyone else with you?"

Ellis tried to answer, but the pain was starting to get to him. The woman shook his shoulder.

"No, don't go to sleep on me, come on. You have to stay awake. Hey, look at me." Ellis turned his head. The woman's face was concerned. "Was there anyone else with you?"

"Ellis!"

"N-nick," the mechanic breathed. The woman looked in the direction of the voice as it came again.

"Over here! We're over here!"

Moments later, Nick appeared around the corner. He was covered with fresh blood, but none of it was his own. He stopped when he saw Ellis lying on the ground, and the dead hunter.

"God damn it…Ellis!" he sprinted over and knelt next to the woman. "Aw, shit, kid. Is he dead?"

"No, that hunter got him pretty bad though. We need to get him out of here."

"Well, don't go back that way." Nick nodded behind him. "I just got away from a bunch of Infected."

The woman looked at him apprehensively. "Did they follow you?"

"No. There weren't that many, and I killed a boomer so they went after that."

The woman wasn't listening. "I need your coat."

"What?"

"I need something to stop the bleeding."

Nick reluctantly took off the coat and handed it to her. She rolled it up and laid it across Ellis' chest. "Can you lift him up?" Nick did so and she tied the sleeves in a tight knot.

"There's a factory over that way. We can bring him there." The woman touched Ellis's shoulder.

"Hey, can you stand up?"

The mechanic nodded, groaning slightly.

"You'd better be able to," retorted Nick .

The woman looked at him. "You're going to have to help him. It isn't that far."

Nick looked like he'd just been asked to babysit a room full of kindergarteners. Then again, Ellis wasn't all that different in his opinion. The woman picked up Ellis' gun and slung it over her shoulder, then helped the mechanic sit up.

"Not too fast, okay?"

Nick put one of Ellis' arms around his shoulder and hauled the injured man to his feet. Ellis stumbled, but Nick kept him upright. "You'd better not blackout on me, Overalls. 'Cause there's no way I'm gonna carry you."

The woman clicked another round into the shotgun. "You ready?"

"Yeah, now where's that factory?"

"This way. Follow me."


	2. Factory Floor

The woman led Nick down a wide path between two buildings. It must have been a truck route at some point, but now the pavement was buckled and cracked, and weeds and grass had taken over. Thick lines of moss grew along the edges of the concrete, the result of years of rain dripping off the corrugated roof.

The woman walked slightly ahead, keeping her gun at the ready. She seemed anxious, but that was to be expected considering what had happened only a few minutes before. As they walked, Nick took a good look at the newcomer. She was a bit taller than Ellis, with brown hair that was braided down her back. She might have been considered pretty, but the fact that she knew how to handle a gun and the look of seriousness on her face told of a tough edge.

The con-man couldn't tell how old the woman was either. She seemed younger than him, but you could never tell with women. You thought they were twenty and they turned out to be forty or something vice versa. Nick had learned to just not ask; he'd been slapped one too many times. Whoever this chick was, she knew how to take control of a situation. Most survivors would have turned tail and run if they met a hunter. It was also a one in a million chance that she had been there to save Ellis. Not that Nick would have been lost without the mechanic, but it was nice to have someone else with in case you had to fight off a horde.

Suddenly, Ellis stumbled, tripping Nick and nearly causing him to fall. The con-man swore under his breath and pulled the mechanic's arm back around his shoulder.

"Hey, is that factory much farther? This guy's not exactly a lightweight."

"We're almost there." The woman looked back at him. "I'm Katy by the way. Katy VanAlstine."

Nick realized that she hadn't said anything about herself until now. She's been in such a hurry to get away from the dead hunter that her name never came up. Nick liked people who didn't talk too much (something Ellis didn't seem to grasp the concept of.) They were easy to get along with. The con-man himself wasn't one to form friendships, but if a person didn't give him any shit, he would generally tolerate them. Katy seemed to be on the right course so far. Still, he had a feeling she was going to be the queen bee sort after this died down. He hoped he was wrong.

A few moments later, Katy stopped in front of a sliding metal door. "Here we are."

Nick looked up at the building. The section with the door was sloped like a lean-to. Behind it, the factory towered four stories above them. Nick found himself thinking about the hunter. He doubted the one that attacked Ellis was the only one around. It didn't help that most of the buildings around here were made of brick. Nick had witnessed hunters scaling brick walls in mere seconds to attack survivors. It would be a bad idea to stay here for much longer.

The heavy metal door made a grating squeal as Katy pushed it open. She waved her hand at the narrow gap "After you."

Nick helped Ellis into the dim space. They were in a loading dock of some sort. The floor sloped downward away from them, ending at a concrete platform and an opening to the main floor. There was

"The lift's this way."

The group climbed the stairs and entered the bottom floor of the factory. It hadn't been abandoned for that long, maybe a decade or so. The floor was thick with dust and many of the windows had been smashed. Graffiti tags emblazoned several walls. Nick looked around. "Well, this is homey."

Katy shrugged. "It beats running 24/7."

She had a point. Besides the obvious threat of hunters, this was the place to be. There were no other zombies around to speak of unless they wandered into the factory park, which they probably would eventually. The door would keep them out for a good period of time unless a tank or charger showed up. When they finally reached the lift, Nick took one look at it and raised an eyebrow. It was platform with waist high mesh walls. It hadn't begun to rust yet, "You sure that thing's safe? Katy nodded as she stepped onto the mesh-walled platform. "I haven't fallen to my death yet."

"That's not comforting."

"Well, I'm not making any promises about the strength of that sheet metal." Katy nodded to Ellis. "And he needs to lie down somewhere.

Nick smirked. "Maybe I'll just leave you down here, Ellis. You weigh the most." He waited for Ellis to make some smart comeback, but the man remained silent. Nick shook him a little. "Hey, Overalls, you still there?"

Ellis finally groaned. Katy clearly wasn't impressed by Nick's attempt at humor. "Just get on the lift, Nick; those gashes are starting to bleed through."

The con-man flinched slightly at the sudden sharpness in her voice. There was the queen bee, hethought. He sighed and pulled the half conscious mechanic onto the platform, leaning him against the mesh. He'd come this far only to be bossed around by another woman. Why did that always happen to him? He certainly didn't ask for it, but it happened nonetheless. Maybe it was revenge for his being a smart-mouthed ass all the time. But then again, what did he really care?

There was a horrible grating thump and the lift slowly began its ascent. Nick leaned against one of the railings, watching Katy. The woman looked back at him once, but didn't say anything. Ellis might have broken the ice, but he wasn't exactly all there, so they remained quiet until the lift shuddered to a halt. A massive warehouse floor lay before them, completely empty. Like the first story, it was covered in dust. Nick noticed trails of recent footprints all around them; not all of them were Katy's

"Is there anyone else up here?"

Katy shook her head. "Not anymore. Help me lift him up."

They half carried, half dragged Ellis over to a corner. There was a small pile of supplies there and a back pack. Katy indicated a mat, and they laid the half conscious man on top of it. The woman set the guns in the corner and rummaged in the backpack. She brought out a med-kit and began to untie the folded jacket.

"I got this." Nick said, taking the med-kit. Katy seemed somewhat surprised.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, trust me; I've had a lot of experience in this area."

The woman looked at him skeptically for a moment. Nick frowned.

"Have you ever had to dig a bullet out of your own arm? I don't think so. Now, do me a favor and take off his shirt."

Katy knelt on Ellis' other side and slid the torn piece of clothing over the mechanic's head. The hunter had had a field day. Ellis's torso was criss-crossed with cuts and scratches. Thankfully, none of them were deep enough to be life-threatening, but they needed to be cleaned. Nick dug through the med kit and brought out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. He looked down at the mechanic.

"Okay kid, this is gonna hurt like hell."

Lucky for Ellis, he was only half conscious.

Twenty minutes later, all the wounds had been cleaned and bandaged. Katy inspected Nick's work.

"That was…impressive."

"I told you, I have a lot of experience with personal injuries." Nick poured some of the alcohol on his hands and wiped them on his suit jacket. Katy watched him with an amused smile.

"White's not really the best color for a zombie apocalypse, is it?"

The con-man shrugged. "It's pretty easy to get blood out of a suit. Now, a wedding dress, it is not easy getting blood out of a wedding dress…don't ask me how I know that."

"I'm sure I don't want to."

"You don't."

Nick nodded at Ellis, who had fallen asleep. "He'll be out for a few hours. After that, we should leave."

Katy looked sympathetically at the con-man. "You both look like you could use some sleep."

As much as the con-man didn't want to admit it, she was right. With the constant threat of infected at every turn, a good night's sleep was a privilege many survivors could no longer afford. Nick tried to think back to the last time he had slept soundly. He couldn't remember.

"You can rest if you want. I'll keep watch."

The gesture was meant to be kind, but warning bells immediately went off in Nick's head. The last time someone told him that, it ended had with a dead body and a wall full of bullet holes. Not to mention someone had nearly stolen his gun and every single cent he had on him. Like sleep, trust came at a premium with Nick. That is, if he even decided to afford you the privilege at all. The con-man locked eyes with Katy.

"You better not be screwing with me. Because I swear to god, if you are…" he trailed off. "I've already killed other survivors and it doesn't bother me goddamn one bit. You screw us and I will shoot you with your own gun." All sarcasm had gone from the con-man's voice. This was a pure warning.

Katy gazed silently at Nick, holding the man's gaze. She nodded.

"Same to you."

Nick hadn't expected that. He watched Katy as she closed her pack and stood. "And for the record, I don't screw with people. All that does is get you enemies. I can't afford that anymore. None of us can."

Nick didn't answer. He didn't have a comeback. He hadn't even known this girl for an hour and already she had proved that she wasn't going to give him an inch. And yet, she didn't strike him as a truly violent type either. That might have been the survival instinct showing through. Panic and danger could make a badass out of anyone. Or a complete asshole. Rochelle had decided that Nick was the latter. Maybe he was.

"Hey."

Nick looked up. Katy's deadpan gaze had disappeared. It wasn't good-natured yet, but there was the slightest hint of empathy. "I don't want us to hate each other. I already know what that does to people."

Nick sighed. So do I. It had done too much. The con-man rubbed the back of his neck. The muscles there were tight from stress. God, this whole thing was fucked up; the zombies, hiding in abandoned buildings, never knowing whether or not you'd still be alive at the end of the day. Given, Nick often had to deal with the last two even before the zombies, but never to this extent. It was just unreal. The con-man finally looked up.

"I just have a problem with trusting people, sweetheart, you know what I mean?"

Katy nodded to Ellis. "You must trust him?"

Nick rolled his eyes slightly and looked at the mechanic. Did he trust Ellis? His immediate vocal answer would have been 'no', but Nick had the strangest feeling that the mechanic really did have his back; even if he was annoying as hell.

"Ellis… Ellis is like a puppy…a redneck puppy with overalls that follows me around…and is probably rabid."

Katy raised an eyebrow. "A redneck puppy with overalls?

"God damn it, it's the best definition I got, okay? You have no idea how annoying this kid gets. He's lucky I haven't left him behind already."

Katy laughed. "He sounds like my brother," she said quietly. She smiled faintly and was quiet. However, the happiness soon faded away and was replaced by solemnity. Katy shook her head and looked up.

"You really should get some sleep. If we want to leave today it's going to involve a lot of moving."

Nick growled under his breath. Yeah, he was definitely beginning to regret this. And the worst part was that he was actually considering going to sleep. There were some things about women that just scared Nick. One was their ability to subliminally convince you to do things you really didn't want to do. Katy seemed to have mastered this ability. Nick shook his head and stood up.

"You know what, sweetheart? If it'll make you get off my case, I'll go to sleep, okay?" The con-man picked up his gun and walked farther back into the massive room. A few minutes later, Katy heard him snoring. The woman shook her head and smiled to herself

"Told you so."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ellis opened his eyes. The sun glared into his face, making him groan and squeeze his lids shut again. He lay still for a moment, blinking. Where was he?  
The mechanic wracked his memory trying to remember what had happened. Slowly, it began to come back. The horde; running away; the hunter attack. Ellis groaned again as he recalled the less than enjoyable experience. His upper body and head were filled with deep, aching pain. It reminded him of the time he and Keith had gotten drunk on Keith's homemade moonshine…except it was worse. There were bandages wrapped around his arms and chest; he was lucky to be alive.

The mechanic eased himself into a sitting position and gazed around the open room. The ceiling was lower than the first level, but other than that, it was the same. Dust and broken glass covered the floor. Ellis was wondering where Nick had gone when he saw the other man slumped against the back wall of the room. He was snoring loudly. The mechanic's rifle rested across his knees. Even in sleep, Nick took precautions.

"Morning, sunshine."

Ellis jumped at the sudden voice, triggering another wave of pain in his chest. A woman was sitting in the corner a few feet away. Ellis hadn't even noticed her.

"Hey," he managed to sigh.

"How are you feeling?"  
Ellis rubbed his head. "Like I got mauled by a gator."

"That bad, huh?"

"It ain't an enjoyable experience, trust me." Ellis grimaced and slowly leaned back on elbow. Katy went to the med-kit and pulled out a bottle of pain medicine. "Here, take these. You'll be sore for a while, but you'll live." She handed him two pills and a water canteen. Ellis accepted them gratefully. He swallowed the water sparingly, which was difficult because his throat felt like sandpaper. He wiped his mouth and squinted at Katy.

"What's yer name again?"

"Katy."

"Oh…I'm Ellis. Some people call me El, but I prefer Ellis 'cause El kinda sounds like a girl's name. But, you know, if you wanna call me El…I guess you can."

Katy laughed faintly. "Ellis sounds fine."

The mechanic looked slightly relieved. He glanced over at Nick. "Did you knock him out or somethin', 'cause I ain't never seen him sleep like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, normally, you move and he's wide awake. Like, this one time I tried pokin' 'im 'cause I wanted to see if he could really shoot a gun in his sleep. He can."

Katy glanced back at Nick. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, an' he's a pretty good shot too; only missed my head by half an inch."

The woman looked at him strangely, unsure whether to be impressed or disturbed. She couldn't understand how Ellis could possibly be smiling as he was telling her this. Thankfully, the mechanic's short attention span kicked in and he changed the subject.

"How long was I asleep for?"

"About five hours. I was getting pretty bored sitting here with no one to talk to."

Ellis shrugged. "Well, Nick ain't fun to talk to either way. He just don't yell as much in his sleep. Except when he dreams about his ex-wife; now that is some funny shit right there. He started cryin' once, an' then-"

"Ellis…"

The mechanic stopped mid-sentence as the con-man spoke. Nick was walking over to them, and he didn't look pleased.

"I'm sure Katy doesn't want to hear about that."  
"Well, she was laughin'."

"I don't care. You say one more thing about me sleeping and I'll make sure the next time you sleep is permanent." Nick gave Ellis a cold stare. The mechanic didn't say anything else.

"And here I thought sleep would help," mused Katy. Nick looked like he was going to comment, but he shut his mouth in the end.

"Okay, moving on. We need to get out of here, preferably today."

"Are you guys going to New Orleans?"

Nick shrugged. "The last CEDA map I saw said that was the only evac station left."

"You really think it's still standing?"

"It's worth a shot. I don't know about you, sweetheart, but I ain't saying here much longer. The further we get away from these things, the better. And if New Orleans really is still standing, I want to get there before CEDA clears out again. Anyway, it beats sitting here on your ass, waiting for a horde to swarm this place.

"It's safe."

"For now. I doubt that hunter was the only one around here. They can climb, you know. It sucks."

"What was your plan?"

"Well, the roads out here aren't choked up like they were back in Georgia. If we can find a vehicle that runs, we should be on the right track."

"I know where there's a truck," said, Katy "I have the keys for it too."

Nick looked at her in shock. "Wait, you have a truck? Why the hell are you still here?"

"I was going to leave tomorrow. I wasn't supposed to go alone, but that plan kind of fell through.

Nick's mind went immediately to the footprints. He was right, there had been others here. Well, they were either dead or turned now. The con-man noticed the anger that had appeared on Katy's face. She closed her eyes momentarily and collected herself.

"Do you guys have any food?"

Nick nodded. "It's mostly canned stuff."

"I was going out to get some more when that hunter attacked Ellis."

Nick nodded. "I don't suppose there's any good water in this place?"

Katy shook her head. "No. There's a convenience store about five blocks away from here that I was going to. They have water and food there, but there were too many infected around when I tried yesterday."

"We'll need to go there before we leave then, zombies or not."

Katy nodded. "We're going to need more bullets too. I only have a few rounds."

"Same here. There's not a gun store around here by any chance, is there?"

"Actually, there's one pretty close to the convenience store."

"Perfect. You know, this actually worked out better than I thought. Now where the hell did that goddamn map go?"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later, the trio was down in the loading dock. Katy had packed her supplies and loaded the last rounds into the shotgun and the handgun. She'd been somewhat concerned about Ellis moving so soon after receiving his injuries, but the mechanic insisted that he was okay. Katy suspected that this had something to do with Nick threatening to leave Ellis behind if he couldn't keep up.

The truck was parked in an adjacent building. It was a dented Chevy Silverado. Rust had eaten the metal around the wheel wells, and it was heavily dented, but was four-wheel-drive. Nick inspected the vehicle. "This might actually work."

Katy tossed her pack in the front seat. "You can say that after we get out of the city. I never said this thing was zombie proof."

"I tried to make my truck zombie proof," said Ellis "Turns out it was only ninety-nine percent zombie proof. The last one percent tore that thing to shreds."

Nick rolled his eyes at the mechanic. "Was that supposed to make us feel better, Overalls?"  
Ellis shrugged. "I dunno. Did it?"  
Nick opened his mouth and closed it again. "You know what-"

"Hey, can we focus please?" Katy was looking at the pair with folded arms. "You're the one who wants to get out of here so bad."

Nick nodded. "Fair enough, gimme the keys."

"You don't even know where you're going."

"That's why you're riding shotgun, sweetheart. I'll agree to your plan, but I'm driving."

Katy growled under her breath and pulled the keys out of her back pocket. "You're gonna get us all killed."

"Probably."

Despite this theory, the first few minutes of the drive went surprisingly well. The convenience store was about five blocks away from the square Nick and Ellis had run through earlier that day. They reached the entrance of the factory complex without trouble. Nick slowed the truck as the opening came into view. The zombies had calmed down slightly since the morning, but there were still a good amount left in the open space. In the middle of the square, the exploded carcass of the boomer was still surrounded by infected.

"Okay, you see that road over there?" said Katy. "You take that straight for three blocks and then take a right and then a left and go two more blocks. Got that?"

Nick nodded silently. He gazed at the zombies.

"Everyone for just plowing through these things?"

"Go for it."

The con-man floored the gas. With a roar, the truck took off and sped across the square. The zombies were too slow to comprehend the sudden appearance of the vehicle, so Nick had no problem as he mowed them over left and right. In the back seat, Ellis was having the time of his life

"WOOOOOO! Get that spitter Nick! Oh, wait, there's a couple more right there! Run'em down!"

"Ellis, shut up!" Nick was having difficulty keeping control of the truck. He suddenly hit four zombies at one time, sending the truck into a skid. It was lucky they didn't tip.

"Will you forget about the damn zombies and get to the street!?" Katy yelled.

"Alright, alright!" Nick yanked the wheel to the left, causing the truck to go on two wheels and slam back down. Katy's head hit the window, causing her vision to blur for a moment. The woman blinked and rubbed her head, groaning. "This is why I wanted to drive!"

"Calm down, will ya? I'm trying to get us out of here."

The con-man steered the speeding truck through the streets, plowing over whatever infected got in their way until they finally reached the convenience store. They slid to a screeching halt in front of the door. Or, at least, what was left of the door. A burning car had smashed through the storefront at some point, the charred remains of its driver slumped over the window. Nick wondered how Katy meant to find anything edible in the wreckage. The con-man unlocked the doors. "Everybody out, this is gonna be a quick one."

Earlier in the factory, they had decided that only two of them would go into the store. The remaining person would stay in the truck and honk if the situation outside warranted getting the hell out of there. Ellis had immediately volunteered to go with Katy. Despite his injuries, the mechanic was too eager to simply stay in the truck; how was he supposed to follow his official instructions?  
In the front seat, Katy was checking her handgun.

"You ready, Ellis?"  
The mechanic was already gripping the door handle. He nodded. "Kill all sons-a-bitches."

In the same instant, the two sprang from the truck. Ellis immediately opened fire on the zombies that were beginning to approach the half-destroyed convenience store. Hordes always chose the worse times to appear. There were no specials that Ellis could see, but they would come soon. He quickly followed Katy through the crumbling entrance.

A passerby might have thought a bomb had gone off inside the store. Most of the aisle racks had been overturned, spilling their contents onto the cracked linoleum. This was made worse by the fact that there were several zombie carcasses there as well. Katy went down the remaining rows systematically, tossing cans and other food into a small sack she had brought along. Ellis stayed close to the blown-out doors at first, shooting at the gathering infected.

"Hey, if there's anything you want, grab it now."

Ellis looked around and momentarily before spotting some boxes of cake mix. The mechanic grinned. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about." He grabbed a few and some cans of frosting and tossed them into the bag. Katy frowned.

"Cake mix?"

Ellis nodded. "Yeah."

"How are we supposed to make a cake?"

"You'd be surprised how easy it is. Hey, are there still cigarettes back there?"

Katy glanced at the front check-out. "Should be."

Ellis bounded over the counter and landed on something soft that was not the floor. The mechanic slowly looked down and jumped back in disgust. "Whoa, hell!" The soft thing was the decomposing body of what appeared to be the store worker. The mechanic quickly looked away from the gruesome sight and grabbed a few packs of Marlboros. Nick might have been an asshole, but everyone needed their smokes.

"There's a dead guy back there," Ellis said as he came out from behind the counter.

Katy shrugged. "He was dead the first time I came in here."

Suddenly, the truck horn blared outside. Katy slung the bag over her shoulder. "That's the signal!" The woman ran out the door, closely followed by Ellis, and nearly collided with a smoker. The thing made an awful gurgling hiss and Katy screamed as its tongue wrapped around her arm. She turned, swinging the sack of food like a mace. Blood sprayed everywhere as the Special went down, its tongue flailing like a berserk snake. Katy cut through the tongue and yanked the slippery thing off her arm. Behind her, Ellis had hefted the rifle. He shot the coughing smoker in the head and shoved Katy forward.

"Run!"

By now, the horn was flat-lining. Katy yanked open the door and tossed the bag into the back seat.

Nick, who had become impatient the moment they left the truck, began whale on her as soon as she opened the door. "Well, that took you long enough." He leaned over the seat and shouted out the still-open door. "Would you get to the goddamn truck, Ellis?!"

A few seconds later, the mechanic jumped in the back seat, slamming an Infected's arm in the door as he did so.

"Get us outta here, Nick!"

"My pleasure."

The con-man floored the gas again, pushing them all back in their seats. Ellis opened his door and kicked the severed arm out onto the pavement.

"Okay," said Nick. "Guns and then we're outta this hell-hole. 'Bout time."

Katy was scanning the streets. "Turn left up here. It's another block south and then a right." Nick avoided a blackened car in the middle of the roadway and turned down a narrow street.

In the backseat, Ellis was particularly joyful and optimistic. "Woohooo! New Orleans here we come! Aw, man, we kicked some ass back there!"

Nick looked at him in the rearview mirror "You can celebrate when we're actually on the damn interstate, okay, Overalls?"

The mechanic ignored Nick and leaned over the back of Katy's seat. "You think we'll get there, don't you, Katy?"

The woman sighed. "I certainly hope so."

Ellis grinned. "We will. I just know we will."

Nick looked silently out the window. Yeah. If they don't kill us first.


	3. New Orleans, LA

Ellis gazed out the back window of the Silverado, watching the trees flash by as Nick steered them down Highway 11 towards Louisiana. The roads here were deserted, unlike those outside Savannah. It was pretty eerie to be honest. On the seat next to Ellis lay the fire ax, the automatic rifles, and the med-packs. The sack of food he and Katy had managed to salvage from the convenience center was there as well. Nick hadn't been a fan of leaving the bag with the mechanic.

"Are you kidding me? It won't last a goddamn hour. I will bet you right now that that entire thing will be gone before we get to New Orleans."

"He's not going to eat it." Katy retorted.

"How do you know? Have you seen the way he eats? Kid's like a goddamn garbage disposal."

"Just keep your eyes on the road. You almost killed us once already."

That was the extent of their conversation as they left Meridian. It hadn't gotten any more interesting over the past half hour. Nick was preoccupied with trying to conserve gasoline. The needle was hovering below the quarter tank mark. Even if they didn't go over forty-five, they would need to refuel eventually, and any inhabited place would almost definitely have zombies. Good thing they'd stopped at that gun store.

"You ever been to New Orleans, Katy?" Ellis asked after a while, looking at the woman in the rearview mirror. Katy shook her head. "No. I wanted to when I got down here, but I never had the chance. Have you been there?"

"Once. Me'n mah buddy Keith drove down there a few years ago."  
Nick smirked. "Really? I thought New Orleans would be a little too cultured for you, Ellis."

"Hey, eyes on the road." Katy turned his head to face the windshield. The con-man frowned.

"Yes, mother."

Ellis rolled his eyes. "We didn't go there fer the culture, we went there fer the food." He looked at Katy excitedly. "I swear that place has the best food in the world. You know, minus my mom's, no one beats hers. Anyway, there was this one shrimp place that had really hot sauce, an' they'd give you a prize if you could eat a whole plate of shrimp with the sauce in under five minutes. Keith did it in one."

"Really?"  
"Yeah. He got real sick afterwards... but he got twenty bucks out of it, an' a free t-shirt too. We hung it up in the shop when we got back."

Nick was on the verge of face-palming the steering wheel. They'd made it so far without a story. So. Goddamn. Far. Now Ellis wouldn't shut up for the rest of the trip. Damn that kid.

"You and Keith were good friends, huh?" Katy said, ignoring Nick's obvious annoyance. Ellis nodded.

"Hell yeah, my best buddy in the world. We ran an auto shop before all this zombie shit happened."

Nick leaned over to Katy. "You'll be hearing a lotabout Keith. This one likes to talk about him all the time, don't you Ellis?"

The mechanic grinned. "Yeah."

Nick gave up. There was just no way of making a point with this kid. Hell, you could threaten him with a shotgun and he still wouldn't shut up. At least Katy didn't seem to mind the rants about Keith. With any luck, she wouldn't get tired of them. Then again, luck didn't seem to be favoring Nick lately. It was bad enough that he had to be caught in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The fact he'd had to be down here when it happened pissed him off to no end. Even worse were his current companions. He was starting to warm up to Katy, but Ellis was just…well, Ellis. There was no good way to explain that kid. The redneck puppy quip he'd told Katy was literally the only way he could think of without giving her a total bitch rant.

"Hey, Nick?"

The con man sighed. "What, Ellis?"

"Are we there yet?

"No."

"How long till-"

"We get there when we fucking get there!"

Ellis was quiet for a moment. "Katy, how long till we get to New Orleans?"

"Three hours."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, so let's all just shut up and hope we get there on time. We'll need more gas eventually and any place we stop at is gonna be infested. The less we have to stop the better."

They made it another minute down the road before Ellis decided that the silence was too overpowering.

"Can't we at least play a game?"  
Nick grinned. "Sure, Overalls, whadya wanna play? Oh, I know, let's play the Quiet Game. First one that talks gets to walk the rest of the way. Ready? Go."

The mechanic sat still momentarily. Then he frowned. "Wait, how-"

"Goddamn it, Ellis, it's been five seconds! How do you fuckin' lose a game in five seconds?"

"But I had a question."

"It can wait."

Ellis shut his mouth.  
______________________________________________________

As far as roads went Highway 11 was not the greatest. Some places were in dire need of patching, and that made for an extremely uncomfortable couple of miles. On one such stretch, the surface was ridged, causing the entire truck to vibrate. Nick had a hard time keeping a good grip on the steering wheel. Finally, he stopped and made Katy drive, which surprised both her and Ellis. The woman looked at him as he closed the passenger door.

"Okay, since you've willingly given up the steering wheel, I don't want to hear a word out of you."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Will you just drive, sweetheart?"

Highway 11 passed several small towns on its way through Mississippi. They drove through Enterprise, Pachuta, Sandersville, and finally Laurel. Unfortunately, there was no gasoline to be found. Most of the stations were dry, and even those that still had fuel were overrun with zombies. In Laurel, a horde had swarmed them. A Hunter had even jumped onto the hood. Nick blew its head to bits with the shotgun, but it was too close. Katy floored it until they were out of the town center. The fuel gage was making her nervous. She prayed that the next town would have gasoline.

Nick was reloading the shotgun. "Let's hope we don't have another episode like that," he said. "We'll end up walking to New Orleans."

"Would you rather I'd gone twenty-five back there?" Katy snapped.

"Hey, hey, calm down," Nick said, "You saved us, alright. That doesn't mean I'm not nervous. How far is the next town."  
"There's a sign comin' up," said Ellis. He leaned over the center console and squinted down the road. "Says…Ellisville: eight miles." The mechanic perked up "Ellisville? Holy shoot, I din know that was a real place. That's awesome!" He shook Nick's shoulder in excitement. "Did ya see that, Nick? I got a city named after me. Man, I can't wait ta tell Keith."

Katy glanced back at Ellis and smiled, wishing that she had his optimism. She hoped that he really would find Keith after they got to New Orleans. Soon, they passed the magnolia emblazoned 'Welcome to Ellisville' sign. So far there weren't many zombies. Nick scanned the road up a head.

"Okay, fifth time's the charm. Holler of you see any gas stations."

Ellis pointed on the right. "There's one!" It was a BP station. Katy slowed and surveyed the parking lot. There were no cardboard "Out of Gas" signs taped over the pumps, and no fires that might cause an explosion. A small handful of zombies milled about under the awning. There were a few more nearby, but they could easily be dispatched. Katy steered the truck to one of the back pumps.

"You guys have any money?"

Nick scoffed "It's the goddamn zombie apocalypse. Ain't no way I'm payin' for gasoline."

"If this is one of those pay-at-the-pump only stations, then were going to need money before it'll give us any fuel."

Nick shrugged. "Then I'll break into the cash register." He handed Katy her handgun and grabbed the rifle. "Alright, Katy's gonna fill the gas tank. Ellis, make sure she doesn't die."

The mechanic frowned. "What're you gonna do?"

"They got Newports here. I'm not passing that up."

Katy stared at him. "You're going to leave us out here with the zombies so you can get cigarettes?"

"Hey, you've got your zombie killer right here," Nick pointed to Ellis. "What, you don't trust him now?"  
"I trust him more than I trust you."

"Sweetheart, no one trusts me. It's a rule. Now get out there."

The trio jumped out of the truck. Nick took out the first zombie with his door, finishing it off with a shot to the head. On the other side, Katy and Ellis had their hands full with four more. The mechanic hacked away with the fire ax while Katy opened the fuel door. Thankfully, the pump had a pay inside option. All they had to do now was wait for the tank to fill up and hope that there weren't any Specials lurking nearby. It would be their luck that a Tank would suddenly decide to come rampaging from behind the convenience store. Katy could see more zombies coming in the distance. The woman dropped two with the handgun and looked at the price counter on the pump. It had just passed ten. Why did gas tanks take so long to fill up?

By now, Nick had returned from the station store. "Tank full yet?"

"Almost, two or three gallons left."

"Good." Nick tossed the cigarettes into the truck. "Hey, Overalls, get ready, the tank's almost full!"

"I'm kinda busy!" The mechanic shouted back. He was having trouble with a smoker that had decided to grab onto the ax handle. Finally. Ellis got control enough to hack it's head in two.

Back at the pump, the nozzle suddenly clicked. Katy slammed the fuel door and shot at a zombie that had appeared from around the building. "Ellis, come on!"

Nick was already in the driver's seat. Ellis barely got the back door closed before the con-man did a sharp turn out the drive way, taking out several more infected along the way. They sped off down the road. As they drove, Nick wiped the zombie bile off his shirt; or, rather, he tried, but gave up after realizing it was only going to smear. "Okay, no more stops. We're driving straight through."

"New Orleans, here we come." Ellis grinned and leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes. Katy listened as his breathing slowed to the measured rhythm of sleep. She wanted to fall asleep as well, she knew she needed it, but her eyes would not stay closed. Finally she leaned on the window and watched absently as they left Ellisville behind. The landscape blurred in and out of focus, blending trees together in an endless stream of green and brown. Katy could honestly say she'd never even dreamed that her life would end up this way. She was twenty-seven, a former crime novel addict who was trying to get her Master's Degree in Forestry. She'd been working at a research station in the Bienville National Forest when the Green Flu hit Mississippi. At that time, CEDA still had some level of control over the situation and the panic level was low. The researchers had taken necessary precautions, but considered themselves relatively safe at the isolated station. How wrong they had been.

Katy shuddered as she recalled her first encounter with a zombie. She'd come across the head researcher, Isaac, as he was being attacked by a Hunter. Katy had killed the zombie, and had also been forced to kill Isaac when he turned. After that, things blurred together. Four of them escaped, and then a Tank got Jake and Dan. Katy and the other survivor, Julia, made it as far as Meridian, where they came across Max, Luke, and Colton. They too had been picked off, one by suicide and the others by attack. Finally, Julia became infected. Katy tried to repress the memory of the woman's transformation. It still made her stomach turn; the image of Julia's convulsing body; the inhuman shrieks and their abrupt end; the sound of a skull exploding from a shotgun slug. Katy had been sick after. The realization of her situation finally began to settle. She considered 'opting out' like Max, but suicide did not sit well with her, and it was a good thing too. Three days after Julia's death, Katy rescued Ellis from the Hunter. Now she was sitting in a truck on the way to New Orleans, in hopes that CEDA would still be there.

You never really could make life plans. More often than not, Life would decide they were completely stupid and roll over them with a bulldozer. How far had the infection gone? The CEDA maps hadn't shown any evac centers past the Mississippi River, but who knew how it was now? The whole country might have spiraled into chaos and anarchy. Katy had family up in Wisconsin. Her younger brother was studying at the police academy in their hometown. The last she'd heard, there wasn't any zombie activity in the area, but that was weeks ago, before the research station was overrun. She just needed to know if they were alive or dead, then she could stop worrying.  
________________________________________________  
Katy didn't remember falling asleep, but she was suddenly shaken awake. The woman opened her eyes and yawned. It was sad actually, being woken up; it had been so peaceful. She turned to stretch her arms came face to face with Ellis. The mechanic was leaning on the center console, grinning.

"You talk in your sleep," he said. Katy raised an eyebrow, somewhat nervous to ask further.

"What did I say?"  
The mechanic chuckled. "Nothin' embarassin'. You kinda mumbled most of the time."

"You kept saying 'I'm sorry," said Nick. "And 'please be alive'. I don't know who you're talking about but there's not much chance of that if they're around here."

Katy tensed. She looked away quickly and glanced out the window. "Where are we?"

"Slidell. We should be in New Orleans in a half hour."

Katie frowned. "We're on the wrong side of the highway."

"The other one's jammed up. Nice and easy this side. All we need to do is make it across the bridge and hope the Evac Center's still in commission."

"Do you know where it is?"

"The map in Savannah said that they're sending people to the Louisiana Naval Base. That's across the Mississippi. If CEDA's got their shit together, they'll be safe enough. Nobody's bit are they?"

Katy stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her sudden antagonism surprised Nick. "Hey, it was a joke."

Katy's gaze remained skeptical for a moment, but then she laughed. "You don't tell jokes like that during a zombie apocalypse; you'll scare the shit out of people."

That got all of them laughing, even Nick. They continued down the highway, passing transformer towers and billboards for restaurants and car dealer ships. Eventually, the road rose up onto supports and they were driving over Lake Pontchartrain. It was a little unnerving, driving so far with only water under you. If you lost control, you were screwed.

The time passed quickly. Finally, the New Orleans skyline was visible over the miles of rundown houses and apartment complexes. Katy found, not surprisingly, that she was getting more nervous the closer they got to the city. Smoke clouds rose from some of the buildings, creating a haze. Katy felt Ellis's presence behind her as he leaned over the console to get a better look. The mechanic's mouth hung open as he looked at the scene

"Whoa. That's not cool."

"It's a big city," retorted Nick. "I doubt it's all still intact. Hey, there's the bridge." He pointed of to the southwest where the curve of a trestle-top bridge loomed over the horizon. "We make it there and we're golden."

"Yeah, 'cept I don't think we can go no further."

The con man looked up the road. His jaw clenched. "Fuck!"

Up ahead, several semi's had jackknifed across the highway. A massive amount of cars had collided with the wreck, resulting in a pile-up that blocked the road for a good fifty yards. Nick stopped the Silverado a few feet away and surveyed the damage. He glanced at Ellis.

"I don't suppose you could build us a monster truck?"

"I'd need Keith an' Dave ta do that," the mechanic replied.

"Then we're walking from here. Everyone grab their shit."

When they exited the truck, Katy ran to the edge of the roadway. They were over a residential neighborhood. Beyond the wreck, the road was clear and there was an off ramp.

"Well, at least we aren't too far away." Nick came around the truck carrying the M-16 and one of the med-packs. "We'll check the cars on the other side."

"I can't see many cars over there. There's an off ramp though. We might be able to find one down on the lower road." Katy walked back to the truck, "Hey, are you okay?"

Ellis was rubbing his shoulder. His face contorted slightly as he touched the bandaged Hunter wound. Nick saw the look and rolled his eyes. "Hey, Ellis, it would really make my day if you didn't keel over right now."

The mechanic shook his head. "I'm fine."

"You guys should switch packs," said Katy. "At least for a while."

Nick did nothing to hide his reluctance as he slipped off the med-pack. "He said he was fine."

"And if we can get though here and find a car, you won't need to carry it that far." Katy retorted. "Now who wants to go first?"

It was slow going through the wreck. The crushed vehicles were close, often forcing them to climb over. In the driver's seat of one, the decaying corpse of a woman hung over the steering wheel. There was still lipstick smeared on her face. Katy swallowed and shivered as she pulled back from the gruesome sight. The accident must have happened after the Infection was well underway. There was no help from rescue workers for this lot. Anyone injured had either died, or been turned eventually. That was another thing. It was very quiet here. With this many cars, there should have been at least a few zombies milling around. Then again, they might have wandered off in search of food.

"Katy, look out!"

There was a sudden guttural shrieking and something slammed into the woman, throwing her to the ground. Ellis' worst nightmare had finally caught up with them. It was a Jockey. Katy screamed and ducked her head forward as the thing clawed at her backpack, screeching and howling.

"HOLY SHIT, KILL IT!"

"Katy, don't move!" There was a sudden cry and the jockey bucked as Nick shot it in the neck. Ellis came up behind and sliced its arm away, finishing it with a blow to the head.

"You get off her!"

Katy scrambled up from the ground and stared in horror at the hacked apart body. By now other Infected had appeared from the wreckage. Ellis grabbed her arm "C'mon, we gotta move!" They ran through the cars, Katy now wielding the fire ax. They'd lost sight of Nick, but Katy could hear him on the other side of one of the semis.

"Ellis!"

"We're on the other side!" Katy yelled back. "Get to the end; we can climb on top of the flatbed!"

They continued through the jam and finally reached the twisted trailer. Nick tossed up the back pack and scrambled after them. "Anybody bit?"

"No."

Nick looked pointedly at Katy. "You sure?"

"I cut its head off," said Ellis resolutely. "It didn't bite her."

"Alright." Nick shot down a smoker that had emerged from the wreckage. "It's clear on the other side, let's get outta here!"


End file.
